Larger than life: Billboards around the world

A man holds a baby on a street in central Beijing, China, in August. David Grey/Reuters

Lance Armstrong's face is on display near Madison Square Garden in New York City on Aug. 3. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/NEWSCOM

Billboards line a construction site in Shanghai, China, on Sept. 14. Philippe Lopez/AFP/NEWSCOM

In Chengdu, China's Sichuan province, a couple poses in front of a billboard ahead of Valentines Day on Feb. 12. Jenny Zhong/ColorChinaPhoto/NEWSCOM/FILE

A man hangs a billboard in Tampa, Fla., as part of a promotional milk campaign. Featured on the sign are Lisa and Bart Simpson sporting milk mustaches. Jim Stem/NEWSCOM/FILE

Billboards in Urumqi, the capital of China's western Xinjiang region promote the upcoming 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Philippe Lopez/AFP/NEWSCOM

Libyan women walk in front of the colorful likeness of Muammar Gaddafi on a billboard in Tripoli, Libya, on Aug. 18. Amr Nabil/AP

Contestants in the Miss Asia Pageant stand in front of a billboard during a promotional event in Beijing, China, on Aug. 14. The finals will be held in Hong Kong in November. Greg Baker/AP

A woman walks past an advertisement for new housing developments featuring a parrot in Beijing, China, on July 21. Frederic J. Brown/AFP/NEWSCOM

A bride and groom pose for pictures in Times Square in New York City in May. Mary Knox Merrill/Staff/FILE

A cyclist passes over a bridge featuring a billboard with Ecuador's President Rafael Correa and a message which reads, in Spanish, 'Hey! Open your eyes!' in Bogota, Colombia, on Aug. 27. A series of billboards appeared in Bogota showing pictures of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Correa with their eyes closed, during a diplomatic spat between Colombia and Venezuela and Ecuador. Jose Miguel Gomez/Reuters

A billboard advertises watches in Moscow, Russia, in February 2008. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff/FILE

Billboards advertise for new housing developments in Beijing in July. Frederic J. Brown/AFP/NEWSCOM/FILE

In New York City's Times Square, Broadway productions are advertised on billboards and theater marquees. Mary Knox Merrill/Staff/FILE

A vintage car drives by a billboard showing Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro as he marked his birthday on Aug. 13. Desmond Boylan/Reuters

Billboards featuring German Chancellor Angela Merkel are put up across Germany, here in Berlin, ahead of the national elections set for Sept. 27. Philipp Guelland/AFP/NEWSCOM

Supporters of conservative Iranian presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaei, try to fix a billboard prior to a speech in Ahvaz, Iran, during his campaign tour before Iran's presidential elections in June. Vahid Salemi/AP/FILE

A hand painted billboard in Burma (Myanmar) aims to create awareness of the perils of dangerous driving in the capital in Sept. 2003. Luke Duggleby/Sipa Press/NEWSCOM/FILE

Pan Shiyi, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Small Office Home Office (SOHO) in China, is seen in a billboard advertisement for his housing project in the newly developed Central Business District (CBD) area of Beijing in May 2005. NEWSCOM/FILE

Native Toronto activist Rami Tabello coordinates a website, IllegalSigns.ca, which tracks illegal billboards throughout the city. See here in Dundas Square, Toronto, Tabello works with the city council, reporting billboards that are built without meeting the specifications of their permits, or without permits at all. Ann Hermes/The Christian Science Monitor/FILE